Chapter Five
987 Words
Damien’s Pov
The city at night was a different beast.
I had long grown used to its filth—the betrayal, the desperation, the unrelenting hunger for power that poisoned men’s hearts. I had seen it all. Lived through it. Conquered it.
And yet, even after all these years, some fools still thought they could challenge me.
The meeting had been a waste of time.
Rival families, minor factions posturing for a sliver of control. They spoke in veiled threats, testing boundaries, searching for weaknesses. I let them talk, let them believe they had my attention, but my mind was elsewhere.
Something had been nagging at me all day.
Something—or rather, someone.
I exhaled slowly, the tension from the evening still clinging to my muscles as I stepped into my mansion. The grand entrance was as immaculate as always, the staff ensuring everything remained in its perfect place. Yet, I wasn’t focused on my surroundings.
I had spent weeks avoiding unnecessary thoughts about her.
She was nothing.
A woman I bought at an auction. A slave, meant to satisfy my baser urges.
She wasn’t the first.
I had owned others before her—women who were beautiful, compliant, and temporary. They never lasted long, not because I discarded them quickly, but because they were easily forgettable. None had ever lingered in my mind.
Maddie should have been the same.
And yet…
She wasn’t.
The way her eyes held defiance even when she knelt at my feet.
The way she carried herself—not as a broken thing, but as a woman forcing herself to endure.
The way she never begged, never complained, never fought back, and yet… somehow resisted all the same.
She was different.
And I didn’t like that.
The moments I realized I had been thinking about her all day, I felt a sharp wave of irritation. Not at her—but at myself.
This was a mistake.
Letting her stay. Letting her settle into the mansion as if she belonged here.
She didn’t.
She was nothing.
So why was I thinking about her now?
I took what I wanted. Used her. That was all there was to our relationship.
And yet… something about her lingered in my mind.
I hated it.
I loosened my tie, rolling my shoulders as I made my way toward my study, only to pause as a sound from a room caught my ear.
Laughter.
Soft, warm, unfamiliar.
I walked toward the source.
The last thing I expected to see was Maddie… and Leo.
I frowned.
My son sat on her bed, a thick book spread across his lap, while Maddie leaned beside him, smiling as she pointed at something on the pages. Leo’s face wasn’t its usual cold mask of indifference. His lips were quirked upward, his posture relaxed.
I stared.
Leo… smiling?
It didn’t make sense.
This wasn’t how I had expected things to go.
He had never smiled like that with me.
And for some reason, that realization bothered me more than I cared to admit.
For as long as I could remember, my son had rejected everyone. No nanny lasted a week. No tutor could keep his attention. The maids feared him, the guards ignored him, and I—
I kept my distance.
And yet, here he was. Sitting beside Maddie as if they had known each other for years.
A strange feeling settled in my chest.
I pushed it down.
Instead, I focused on Maddie.
I had convinced myself I would be content leaving her to her routine—obedience, silence, survival.
Yet, watching her now, I realized I had underestimated her.
She wasn’t just surviving.
She was adapting.
And that… was interesting.
I stepped forward.
“Maddie.”
She stiffened instantly, her laughter vanishing as she turned toward me.
Leo’s posture changed too—his shoulders squared, his face closing off in that familiar mask. The warmth from moments ago was gone, replaced with guarded silence.
Maddie swallowed, her gaze searching mine as if trying to figure out why I was calling her.
I gestured with my hand. “Come.”
She hesitated.
I didn’t repeat myself.
With a small nod, she stood, throwing one last glance at Leo before following me out of the room.
---
I led her into my office, shutting the door behind us.
She stood in the center, her arms crossed over her stomach, a nervous energy radiating from her.
I leaned against my desk, studying her.
I remembered the guard I had assigned to watch her had reported something unusual weeks ago. That she spent time with Leo. That the boy tolerated her in ways he tolerated no one else. I had dismissed it then, preoccupied with business.
But now, after seeing them together with my own eyes…
I couldn’t ignore it.
“What are you doing with my son?” I asked, my voice calm, measured.
She blinked, surprised by the question. “Nothing.”
I arched a brow. “Nothing?”
“I mean…” She hesitated. “I didn’t do anything special. He just… talks to me.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Leo doesn’t just talk to people.”
She bit her lip. “I know.”
I waited.
Finally, she sighed. “I didn’t force anything. I didn’t try to win him over. I just let him be. Maybe that’s why he’s not pushing me away.”
Interesting.
Silence stretched between us.
Maddie shifted slightly, looking unsure, as if she expected some sort of punishment.
She thought I would be angry.
I wasn’t.
If anything, I was… intrigued.
Leo had never wanted a nanny—he had rejected them all. But Maddie wasn’t a nanny. She was something different. And perhaps that was why he had accepted her.
Perhaps that was why I would let this continue.
“You’re his nanny now,” I said.
Her breath hitched.
“What?”
- Writer
